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Can Airlines Bring Peace to Israelis and Palestinians?

Many airlines canceled flights to Israel this week amid spiraling tensions in the Middle East, bringing to 10 the total number of carriers that have announced cancellations. The Lufthansa Group, which includes Lufthansa, Swiss Air Lines, Brussels Airlines, Austrian Airlines and Eurowings, announced that it was canceling flights to Israel until August 8. United Airlines has now suspended all flights, and Delta Air Lines has also paused flights.

In 2018, Haaretz columnist Gideon Levy predicted ([link removed]) Israelis would finally wake up and back a peace agreement when they couldn’t jump on a plane to go shopping. At the end of Levy’s talk at the 2018 Israel lobby conference ([link removed]) , Grant F. Smith asked a question about BDS.

Grant F. Smith: What do you say to those who say that BDS furthers Israeli narratives about being victims and needing security?

Gideon Levy: This is a very good question. We know from the past that many times pressure from the outside united Israel—but only for the first time, for the first while, for the first period of time. By the end of the day, we have to confront the Israelis with their reality, because they are totally disconnected from reality. I want to see the Tel Avivian who will realize that if he wants to go to Europe, he needs a visa. If he wants to export some of his goods, he’s going to work very hard to do so—if at all. Then he will ask himself, is it worth it? Is it really worth it? I can assure you that after the first rhetoric of “we are all united against the whole world, which is always against us, and they all hate us,” then rationality will come into the picture.

I once thought that Austrian Airlines can bring peace. How can this be? Because in the last attack of Israel on Gaza in 2014, some airlines stopped flying to Israel, it happened to be that Austrian was the first one. I think it lasted like 20 hours—but in those 20 hours, Israelis went mad. I mean, Israelis lost their temper. It was crazy. Then I thought, imagine yourself that Austrian Airlines—that’s just a daydream—Austrian Airlines declares that as long as the occupation continues, Austrian Airlines is not flying to Israel. The occupation comes to its end within days. When Israelis will be prevented to get to Macy’s for their shopping or to get to Galeries Lafayette in Paris for their shopping, this will be the day that the occupation will be over.

Watch Gideon Levy’s full remarks here ([link removed]) .

Read the full transcript here. ([link removed])
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